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President of the Republic Lennart Meri in Reykjavik to the Members of the Althingi, on September 14, 1999
14.09.1999

Mr. President,
honoured members of the Althingi,

I am greatly honoured to be standing today before the oldest parliamentary institution in the world. It is indeed remarkable that Iceland is so much identified through this legislative assembly. You have managed to preserve this institution through the ages, thereby preserving for a thousand years the ideal of a society by the people for the people. This fact alone demands respect for Iceland and the Icelanders.

But the Althingi is more than a rich national tradition. Estonians will forever remember your courage in 1990 and 1991 when you spoke out in favour of the Baltic nations' drive to regain their independence. I see the spiritual closeness of Estonians and Icelanders in the wry humour with which the Estonians expressed their thanks: they renamed the Lenin square in the centre of Tallinn into the Iceland Square.

You supported us because of your democratic traditions and your belief in the right of each nation to determine its own fate. You yourself have, after all, known subjugation and the loss of control over your own affairs. We are grateful for this. The step undertaken by Iceland was an example for other countries. The Soviet Union was not able to withstand the combined pressure and we were able to restore our independence without bloodshed. We value this very highly. Unfortunately the right to self-determination is not universally accepted. Since the reestablishment of Estonian independence millions of people have had to die for this principle.

We speak to each other in a common language. It is the language of democracy, freedom and self-determination. Our shared experience of a successful struggle to regain an independence lost has given us a political experience that many larger nations do not know. It is an experience which is unfortunately still denied to many small nations.

When President Grímsson spoke at the University of Tartu last year he referred to the special role of small nations in world politics. It is a message I would like to reiterate today before this ancient assembly.

The small nations of this world - and especially those of us that exist in the relatively secure and sheltered environment of northern Europe - have an obligation to stress to the larger nations the role of morals in world politics. All too often it seems that the wider picture is not seen by politicians of larger countries. That wider picture tells us that if a situation that seems wrong from a moral point of view, then it will probably turn out to be a problem from a political and security point of view as well, albeit in the longer term. If we take Kosovo or Bosnia then I believe that all in this hall would agree that the situation existing in these places seemed morally wrong right from the start. A strong reaction then to stop the impending bloodshed would have been much easier and much cheaper than were the later military interventions.

In short, small nations must act as barometers for larger countries, showing storms well in advance. What may be difficult to see from the metropolises of this world we sense in our bones. After all, we do not possess armadas. We cannot afford to deal with disasters only after they have happened. We know the price in human lives. We have an obligation to practice preventive diplomacy to avoid disasters to avoid having to manage them later on. Our motive is our sense of rectitude, our weapon our agility.

This you showed so admirably in 1990 and 1991 when you supported the striving of the Baltic states. You knew what many leaders of larger nations refused to believe: that the march of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania towards independence was both right and unstoppable.

Together I hope we can provide an impetus to larger nations to act sooner and with more determination to counter crises arising and to ensure a more just world for all.

Thank you.

 

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